– The Rangers defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning, 5-1, tonight at Madison Square Garden, for their second consecutive win. New York has now won six of their last nine contests after dropping their first two games of the season.

– The Blueshirts improved to 6-5-0 (12 pts) overall, including a 5-2-0 mark at MSG this season. The Rangers are 5-1-0 in their last six games at Madison Square Garden.

– The Rangers have registered at least one point in 15 of their last 18 games against the Lightning, posting a record of 11-3-4 over the span.

– The Blueshirts is now 17-3-2 in their last 22 games against Southeast Division opponents, after posting a record of 15-3-2 against the Southeast Division last season.

– New York out-shot Tampa Bay, 32-20, in the contest to improve to 4-1-0 when out-shooting their opponents.

– The Rangers remained undefeated when scoring the first goal this season, posting a record of 4-0-0 in those contests, compared to 2-5-0 when allowing the game’s first goal. The Blueshirts improved to 4-0-0 when leading after the first and second periods.

– The Blueshirts out-hit the Lightning, 32-22, in the contest, led by Anton Stralman and Ryan Callahan who tied for the game-high with five hits apiece.

Player Notes:

– Carl Hagelin tied his career-highs with two goals, three points and six shots on goal, and posted a plus-two rating in 15:48 of ice time. He has now registered five points (three goals, two assists) in the last four games. Hagelin has recorded six points (three goals, three assists) in six career contests against Tampa Bay.

– Henrik Lundqvist made 19 saves to improve to 5-5-0 overall, including a 5-2-0 mark at home this season. He has held opponents to two goals or less in five of his last seven games, posting a record of 4-3-0 with a 1.87 goals against average and a .927 save percentage over the span. Lundqvist has now started 28 of the Rangers’ last 30 contests against Tampa Bay, posting a record of 15-7-6 with a 2.12 GAA, .924 Sv% and two shutouts over the span.

– Rick Nash notched one goal and one assist, along with five shots on goal and tied his career-high with a plus-four rating in 18:21 of ice time. He has now recorded seven points (two goals, five assists) in seven home games, and is tied for the team lead in scoring with nine points and ranks first with a plus-eight rating on the season.

– Ryan Callahan tallied the eventual game-winner with an unassisted goal at 15:13 of the first period, and tied for the game-high with five hits in 17:46 of ice time. He has now recorded two goals in his last three games.

– Dan Girardi tied his career-highs with two assists/points, was credited with two blocked shots and posted a career-high, plus-four rating in 22:10 of ice time, while making his return to the lineup after missing the previous two games due to injury. He is now tied for second among team defensemen with four assists on the season.

– Arron Asham notched his first point as a Ranger with a goal at 12:22 of the third period, and was credited with three hits in the contest.

– Marc Staal tallied an assist and was credited with four hits in a game-high, 24:20 of ice time. He has registered four assists in the last four games, including three assists in the last two games. Staal now leads all team defensemen in assists (six) and points (seven), and is tied for second on the team overall in assists and ranks fourth in points.

– Ryan McDonagh recorded an assist, was credited with two hits and two blocked shots, and posted a plus-three rating in 23:07 of ice time. He has registered three points (one goal, two assists) in the last two games. McDonagh has recorded five assists in seven career contests against Tampa Bay.

– Derek Stepan tied his career-high with a plus-three rating, and won a game-high, 14-25 faceoffs (56%) in 19:48 of ice time.

– Brad Richards registered four shots on goal, was credited with two blocked shots and won 10-15 faceoffs (67%) in 18:26 of ice time.

Post-Game Quotes:

– John Tortorella on Arron Asham…“A guy like Ash, what he does, a lot of players won’t do it. Those types of guys who fight for their teammates and do all of the dirty things in the game, and score a goal, you’re certainly happy for him. He’s a good teammate. He’s played on about a hundred teams and every team we talked to said he’s a great guy.”

– Henrik Lundqvist on the team’s play…“I think special teams have been great and such an important part of our game. Also, our starts have been really good. We have a lot of confidence and were really relaxed and starting to play our game. That makes a big difference.”

– Carl Hagelin on balanced scoring…“That’s what we needed in the beginning, our first line was scoring all of our goals and you’re not going to win like that. It’s important for every guy to chip in and fortunately JT had a couple of goals last game and I have a couple today. It’s always good when everyone contributes.”

– The Rangers will return to action when they face-off against the Boston Bruins on Tuesday, Feb. 12, at TD Garden (7:30 p.m. – TV: MSG Network, NBC Sports Network; Radio: ESPN 98.7), in an Original Six matchup.

Gilroy is a guy who doesn’t disgrace himself out there, but he doesn’t seem to handle the rough and tumble of the game. Not that he hasn’t dished out some very potent checks from time to tie, but he plays like a guy who has one foot over the bench, and the other jumping out of the way for the guy replacing him. I think that he will be hard pressed to make a real impact until or if he gets some regular ice time in meaningful situations.